Elemental Crystals

Lore & Background

Four hundred years before the game begins, the Lefeinish people used the Power of Wind to craft airships and a giant space station known as the Floating Castle. As their country declined due to the darkened Wind crystal, history repeated itself over two centuries later when the Water crystal dimmed, sinking an ocean-based civilization's central shrine. The Earth and Fire crystals soon followed suit, devastating the agricultural town of Melmond with wildfires and rotting plains. In this time of darkness, the sage Lukahn prophesied that four Light Warriors would arrive to save the world. These warriors each carry one of the darkened crystals, tasked with a desperate quest to defeat the evil forces responsible and restore light to their respective elements.

In Their Own Story

The story follows four youths called the Warriors of Light who enter a time loop created by the archdemon Chaos. Initially, they rescue Princess Sarah from Garland in the Kingdom of Coneria and eventually traverse the Aldi Sea, defeating pirates and dark elves to acquire key items like the Mystic Key and TNT. They defeat the Earth Fiend Lich in the Earth Cave, the Fire Fiend Kary in Gurgu Volcano, and the Water Fiend Kraken in the Sunken Shrine using special oxygen liquid from a fairy. After liberating the Floating Castle from the Wind Fiend Tiamat, they restore all four crystals. This victory opens a portal in the Temple of Chaos, transporting them 2000 years into the past. There, they discover that Garland was sent back in time by the Four Fiends to become Chaos, who then sent the Fiends forward to create the loop. The Warriors defeat Chaos, ending the cycle and returning to the present as legends.

Reader's Guide

Players begin by choosing four characters from six available classes: Fighter, Thief, Black Belt, Red Mage, White Mage, and Black Mage. These choices are locked for the entire game. To progress, players must navigate an overworld map using foot travel, a canoe, a ship, or eventually an airship. Random encounters occur on field maps unless in preset locations or boss battles. The primary goal is to defeat the four Elemental Fiends (Lich, Kary, Kraken, Tiamat) and restore light to the crystals. Combat is menu-based and turn-based, requiring players to manage character levels (1-50), hit points, and equipment restrictions per class. Magic is divided into White (defensive/healing) and Black (destructive/debilitating) spells of levels 1-8. Items like Tents, Cabins, and Houses allow for healing and saving on the world map, while special items such as the Levistone and Mystic Key are essential for unlocking new areas and defeating fiends.

Did You Know?

• The game was originally conceived under the working title Fighting Fantasy before trademark issues forced a name change.
• By March 2003, all versions of Final Fantasy had sold a combined two million copies worldwide.
• Final Fantasy was the first game to show player characters on the right side of the screen and enemies on the left, replacing the first-person view common at the time.
• The Lefeinish people crafted a giant space station called the Floating Castle using the Power of Wind 400 years before the game's start.
• Each character class can learn only three spells per magic level, with four White and four Black spells available for each level between one and eight.